چکیده انگلیسی

Abstract
Background
Bullying is a common occurrence in adolescence that may damage the physical and emotional health.
Objective
The purpose of the present cross-sectional study was to analyze the profile of the adolescent aggressor only, aggressor/victim, victim only, and those not involved in verbal school bullying, and to associate their profiles with life satisfaction and familial characteristics evaluated through socioeconomic status.
Subjects and methods
A cross-sectional study was carried out with 366 Brazilian adolescents between 13 and 15 years. Verbal school bullying was identified using the Brazilian National School-Based Adolescent Health Survey (PeNSE) questionnaire. The life satisfaction of the adolescents was assessed using the Multidimensional Life Satisfaction Scale for Adolescents (MLSSA). Statistical analyses involved the chi-square test, Fisher's exact test and the Poisson regression with robust variance.

مقدمه انگلیسی

1. Introduction
School bullying is a phenomenon that occurs in an educational setting and is common in adolescence [1]. There are four main types of school bullying: physical; verbal; relational; and indirect, which involves the spreading of rumors [2].
In adolescence, there is a clear need to feel accepted by the group, particularly in a school environment, where adolescents spend a large part of their time and maintain personal relationships [1], [3], [4] and [5]. The acceptance of an adolescent by his or her peers is influenced by factors such as physical characteristics and socioeconomic status. When these characteristics do not correspond to the expectations of the group, the individual may be rejected and bullied [5], [6], [7] and [8]. Verbal school bullying episodes can be motivated by physical characteristics [5], [6], [7] and [8], such as obesity or excessive thinness [3] and [9]. Oral characteristics, including the position, color, and shape of teeth, can also affect self-image and quality of life [10] and [11]. Racial prejudice, religious, fashion clothing, height and hair type are some features that can also trigger verbal school bullying [12].
The prevalence of school bullying among adolescents from different countries ranges from 5.4% to 67.5% [11], [13], [14] and [15]. Cultural differences and different diagnostic methods related to school bullying in the population may explain this discrepancy. According to a national survey carried out in Brazil in 2009, 5.4% of adolescents were victims of school bullying [16]. School bullying manifests itself through demeaning behaviors [13], [14] and [15]. Therefore, the use of nicknames that degrade the image of the adolescent, verbal provocation, and sexual harassment characterize episodes of school bullying, possibly leading to stress and affecting the physical and emotional health of the individual [2]. Victims of verbal school bullying may suffer from depression, anxiety, and low self-esteem, or may drop out of school or even commit suicide [1], [2], [3], [5] and [14].
Although school bullying occurs in an educational setting, the family exerts an important influence on this activity. Some individual characteristics of the behavior of adolescents may be influenced by family environment [4]. Thus, when the family environment is not harmonious, it becomes a source of stress for the adolescent, who becomes embroiled in matrimonial conflicts, financial crises, jealousy among siblings, and problems with neighbors [4] and [14]. This adolescent becomes more short-tempered, which can influence their relationships within the school environment [4]. The behavior of an adolescent at school is not always known by their family [12], who usually only find out in cases of extreme violence [4] and [12].
The school and the family are important support systems in the life of an adolescent, and any alteration in these mainstays can affect their life satisfaction [17], [18] and [19], possibly leading to stress and depression [4] and [18]. Dissatisfaction with the family environment affects the attitudes of adolescents in the school environment [20]. Aggressors could use the vantage of being male [5], their size and physical force [7] as well as better socioeconomic status (SES) [5] and [6]. Therefore, knowledge about socioeconomic status as well as life satisfaction of the adolescent in relation to their family, school, and self-image can enable the identification of adolescents who may have the profile of an aggressor, as well as those that may be the victims of school bullying [4], [5] and [21]. In recognition of the factors related to verbal school bullying, as well as victimization, it is important to elaborate prevention policies for school bullying and its negative consequences [7].
Thus, controversies over results, cultural differences, as well as the lack of standard methodological criteria or study designs regarding verbal school bullying in adolescents, demonstrate the need to encourage research on this subject. Therefore, the purpose of the present cross-sectional study was to analyze the profile of the adolescent aggressor only, aggressor/victim, victim only, and those not involved in verbal school bullying, and to associate their profiles with life satisfaction and familial characteristics evaluated through socioeconomic status.